Preliminary remarks

The atrocities committed on 11 September 2001 (‘September 11’ or ‘9/11’), like others since then, highlight the critical importance of the international rule of law and the terrible consequences of its disregard. Ultimately, however, the impact of such attacks on the international system of law depends on the responses to them and in turn on the reaction to those responses. To the extent that lawlessness is met with unlawfulness, unlawfulness with impunity, the long-term implications for the rule of law, and the peace, stability and justice it serves, will be grave. Undermining the authority of law can only lay the foundation for future violations, whether by terrorists or by states committing abuses in the name of counter-terrorism.

This book seeks to set out in an accessible fashion the parameters of the international legal framework applicable to the events of 11 September 2001 and responses thereto. It highlights questions regarding the extent to which the norms and mechanisms of the international legal system have been upheld or undermined in the so-called ‘war on terror’ waged since 9/11. The premise is that the legitimacy of measures taken in the name of the counter terrorist struggle depends on their consistency with international law. It is essentially this reference to objectively verifiable standards and processes – rather than subjective assertions as to good and evil – that enable credible distinctions to be drawn between those that abide by the rules of the international community and those, like the architects of 9/11, that conspire against them.